Meet Me at Dawn

Chapter Twenty-three (continued)

Okay y'all, here's the second part of the chapter. Sorry it took me so long to get it up. I just finished it, so be aware that it is not edited and there are likely a few mistakes. Hope y'all enjoy nonetheless! Thanks for reading and for your continued support!

“No,” was his final utterance. It was ground out between clenched teeth, low and guttural.

“No...she was not happy about last evening’s display?” I asked impudently.

All at once, before I had time to think, time to react, Sutherland dropped his glass, letting out a low growl and pushed me back against the nearest wall, pinning me between his arms braced on either side. “You know damn well what I meant,” he ground out, his face inches from my own. I could smell the scotch on his breath and the starch of his shirt. Whatever words I might have possessed stuck in my throat as I stared up at him. His gaze bore into my own, his jaw clenching and unclenching. I felt that all too familiar racing of my pulse and aching in my core.

Despite myself, I found that I could not look away from him, nor could I bring myself to force him away. My traitorous hands itched to take hold of his lapels and pull him even nearer, to close that infinitesimal gap separating our lips. They remained at my side as we continued to stare at one another in silence. With each breath, I inhaled his scent. It was heady, and most certainly male.

I watched as his glare slowly left my gaze down to my mouth, where his eyes darkened, and I felt his arms tense where his arms braced against the wall. Seeing him so unbalanced snapped me out of my trance. I ducked beneath one of his arms and sidestepped away from him, immediately feeling the loss of his presence around me. I quashed that feeling--I could not allow him to affect me in such a manner.

“No, my lord, I am afraid I do not take your meaning,” I told him shakily, still untrusting of my own voice. With haste, I spun around to exit the room, hoping to cut off any further dialogue on the subject. I desperately needed to collect my thoughts and devise a way to broach the subject with Lady Wilmington, beg if need be, to release Sutherland and me from this engagement.

With a speed I did not expect from a person in his state, his vice-grip around my arm pulled me back to him, the momentum bringing me closer to him than before. We stood toe-to-toe, his hands now gripping my upper arms as his mouth came crashing down upon mine. I stood frozen, feeling a mixture of surprise and relief as his mouth softened against mine. His hands left my arms, as one came up to cup my cheek and the other snaked around me to pull me closer to him still.

Upon their own volition, my hands moved to touch him, one went up to his hair, through which my fingers threaded, and the other to cup his cheek, where I felt the roughened contours of his face beneath my palm. He pulled his lips away from mine to nuzzle into my hand before he moved to kiss my palm. I watched his ministration with mute fascination, in awe that from one moment to the next he should change from an angry, grumbling man, to one who was so loving and tender, yet forcefully passionate.

In my reverie his mouth came back to mine, coaxing and tender, prompting me to respond to him. My hands moved to slide around his neck, and I was clinging to him, for both support and need to be closer to him. He must have sensed this as well, because he pushed me back against the wall, pressing his body against mine. I gasped at the feel of him against me, and felt him smile slightly against my lips before reclaiming them.

Only the sound of a throat being cleared brought me back to the present. Sutherland pulled away, showing only the briefest self-assured smile before turning to face whomever it was that stood in the doorway. I stood against the wall in an attempt to regain my composure, painfully and acutely aware of the loss when Sutherland move away from me.

“I told you to mind your manners and set a date, Sutherland. Now I shall have to everything myself.” There was pause, yet I did not dare turn, for I already knew who it was. “Mary, I no longer wish for my afternoon tea to be served in this room. It has been besmirched by the sight of this...this sordid tryst. It has rather put me off to tea altogether this afternoon.” I paled at her words, but recovered quickly and sent Sutherland a withering glare.

I heard my grandmother’s skirts rustling as she presumably turned and walked from the room with her maid, Mary, following in her wake.

“You knew?” I exclaimed, rounding on him with fury burning in my chest.

“Knew that Lady Wilmington takes her afternoon tea in this particular salon?” he paused, returning the impudence which I had inflicted upon him earlier, “Why would I know such a trifling detail?”

“You are the most infuriating man, I have ever known!” I refrained from stomping my foot for emphasis, lest I appear even more childish for engaging in such a futile argument. “Why? Why orchestrate such a thing?” He was a dreadfully complex being to understand. First annoyed with my presence and now striving to keep me captive.

Sutherland merely shook his head, no doubt thinking that the answer to my question was more than obvious. “I believe Lady Wilmington will be declaring that the wedding shall occur within a fortnight. I suggest you stop her before she plans anything too dramatic,” he said, tactfully drawing my attention away from him.

“She would not,” I declared, though with doubts flooding into my thoughts. She would not spread rumors to expedite the nuptials, or at least I did not believe her capable of doing so. Perhaps Sutherland’s argument was valid in that regard. With that thought I turned my attention back to him only to find his amused expression watching me carefully.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I am quite aware as to what you are trying to do, my lord. However it will not succeed. I will have you cry off from this farcical act before she can go any further in her arrangements.” I forced myself away from the wall and purposefully walked past him to the doorway, not bothering to wait for his response to my declaration.

“We shall see, my dear,” I heard him say to the empty room as I continued down the hall in search of my grandmother. His use of such an endearment gave me pause, however, I shrugged and continued on my way. I would find a way to convince him later, for right now it was more important to hinder my grandmother’s wedding arrangements.